Todd Smith speaks for the first time since resigning

The former Minister of Education and MPP for Bay of Quinte riding spoke on the Lorne Brooker Show Monday.

Todd Smith joined former Belleville Mayor Ross McDougall and Brooker to discuss his departure last Friday.

He announced he would be moving to the private sector and that he told the Premier last Wednesday.

“He walked out, shook my hand. Said Smitty, I really hope you’re coming here to tell me that you’re moving on to a great opportunity in the private sector. I said very intuitive of you Mr. Premier, I am doing that, and then we had a great conversation for over an hour.”

He says it was something he was considering since the winter.

“Had a conversation with a couple of my colleagues that are really, really good friends. They said you know Smitty, you are on top of the world right now, you’ve done a great job as Energy Minister. If you’re thinking of leaving, now is a good time.”

Smith says in 2011, his plan was to stay for eight years.

“We never formed government. We were in opposition for seven. And then when we were finally able to form government in 2018, I had the opportunity to participate as a cabinet minister. Then the pandemic hit which was not fun for anyone.”

He spoke to the speculation that he was upset with the cabinet shuffle that switched him from energy to the education ministry.

“I mean I was loving being the Energy Minister, but I was already starting to think about an exit plan at that time. I mean I’m 53 years old. As we’ve talked about on numerous occasions, MPPs don’t have a pension. If a great offer came along, I was going to consider it.”

Smith is not revealing where he is going at this time and says it will be up to the company on when the time is right to make the reveal.

Smith held a number of cabinet positions but spent the longest time heading the energy portfolio from 2021 to the cabinet shuffle on June 6 when he was moved to education.

He did say he received a lot of interesting offers from the energy sector and beyond since that cabinet shuffle.

Smith says he is looking forward to the next chapter but is extremely proud to have represented this region.

“It’s gonna be very, very exciting and I never, ever thought that I would be the MPP for Bay of Quinte and Prince Edward Hastings. I never thought that I would be a cabinet minister in Ontario. And I never thought that I would end up going where I’m gonna be going.”

Smith thanked his team and his family, wife Tawnya and daughters Payton and Reagan for their support over the years.

Reflecting on his career, Smith says he is extremely proud of the Driving Prosperity plan developed when he was Minister of Economic Development that helped save the auto sector in the province, seeing ground broken on a new Prince Edward Memorial Hospital and steps taken to improve healthcare in the region and ensure the community’s hospitals would stay put.

The first hour of the Lorne Brooker Show can be heard below:

Hear the second part of the interview from the Lorne Brooker Show below: